I just received a wheelset that I purchased on eBay. Unfortunately found a crack in the rim coming from a spoke hole. The rim is a DT Swiss RR 1.2. I'm trying to figure out what the reasonable cost is to replace the rim. I normally do all my own wrenching - except when it comes to wheels - so I'm not sure what is involved in fixing this. A new rim is about $80. How much is reasonable for a shop to charge to swap out the rim? Do I need new spokes or nipples?

Average price for building a wheel is around $40 in a shop. The cost of the rim varies. Look around for prices and/or ask the shop. Many shops will not build a wheel with used spokes, so you may need to factor in that cost. I'd return the wheelset - and never do business with whomsoever sold them to me again.

Ride the rim until further cracking develops, then consider a rebuild (if the hubs are worth it, sometimes you get a better deal with a complete wheel). If you do your own wrenching there is no reason to not build your own wheels, it's simple (if you can true a rim, you can build a wheel).

Is is really a crack or a stress mark from the nipple. When I build up wheels with velocity rims (no eyelets) I get the stress marks but I never overtension and the rims hold up with no cracking.

I'd want to go around those wheels with a tension-meter and see what's going on. If whoever built those wheels kept tightening them until they'd turn no more - those wheels are living on borrowed time.

There is such a thing as too tight... I once saw a gorgeous FIR rim get destroyed because of this.

For a rebuild you are probably looking at $80.00 plus the cost of new spokes (about 1.00 each) and $40.00 labour.

Ever count how often that phrase appears in this and other forums?

I agree with Panthers007. Unless the wheelset was nearly free, I'd return it and get a full refund.

+1.

So a rebuild is $80.00 plus 40.00 labor? WTF is the labor for then? Or are you saying 80.00 for a new rim?

Yes, I've been burned so many times on eBay, and yet I always go back for more. Last time it was a frame that had a crack in the head tube. I didn't discover the crack until it was too late to charge back to the seller. This time I am trying to communicate with the seller to negotiate something fair, but so far no response. The wheelset has a powertap rear hub that seems to be ok, and that was the real reason for purchasing the wheels. So if the seller will cover the cost to replace the rim I think I would be ok with that.

Thanks everyone for all the info!

Depending on the you or the OP wants then yes, this could be the case.

To Zeriman, unless you want to chase down doing a return then I'd say that it's high time you learned to do your own wheel work. It's no more complex than doing all those other bike related jobs, just a bit more tedious.

If you do keep them and the damage is limited to just a small crack around one spoke then I'd say true it up and ride it for now but keep a close eye on the spoke. Put a bit of tape around that spoke to identify it. Also check for swelling or cracks around other nipples. I rode an old Araya rim with a sweeling and crack around one spoke for years without issue. I only recently had to swap out the rim when I noticed that 4 or 5 other spokes had suddenly developed cracks or swelling of their own.

Swapping a rim is a good way to get your feet wet with wheel building. If you find a rim with the same ERD as the old one then you can use the same spokes and nipples provided they still turn easily. If they are corroded and only move with a lot of twisting and snapping then I'd suggest getting new spokes and nipples. And there's no need to actually spend $80 on the rim. If the wheelset uses rims of around that price then you should certainly fight for a refund. But if they are budget rims then get a budget replacement. For budget rims I've had excellent results over the years riding on Vuelta and Ambrosio rims. Yet they don't seem to command high prices. I consider these two brands to be definite performance sleepers.

When I build wheels the price is calculated by adding the cost of the rim plus the cost of spokes plus labour which is usually $40.00but might vary if I have to strip the wheel.